Head, shoulders, back, and legs, back and legs.

New Progress pics time!!

     Lately I have been so focused on what my goal is, I don’t even think about cheating on my diet or skipping out on a workout. I have no excuse to do so. The other day I was driving home from work and passed a McDonalds, and thought to myself “imagine if you caved in and had some chicken nuggets??” Just the thought about having fast food and ruining what I’v worked so hard for makes me sick to my stomach! Cheating on my diet is NOT even an option for me! I have gotten to the point where when I see a temptation I kick it in the shins and walk away!

      I literally plan my life around my gym time. If someone asks me to do something or if I have work, my first thought is, “ok well if I go to the gym at this time then that can work!”. If your a busy bee like I am sometimes, you can take 30 minutes or even 20 minutes out of you day to get some exercise in! Go for a walk! Get up off your couch…DO SOMETHING! This will also just help you clear your head, get the stress out, take the world off your shoulders. Believe me, yesterday I had work at night, so during the day I was cleaning, eating, and watching TV. Damn Dance Moms got me carried away and before I knew it I had work in less than 2 hours! Thank goodness yesterday was cardio and ab day, I ran to the gym busted out a 45 min workout and felt awesome and accomplished afterwards!

    You can make it work!

       I have also gotten to the point in my carbnight diet where, I am not craving carbs. I didn’t even realize till a little bit after waking up that tonight is my carb night! I have gotten so used to eating low carb and loving it that it doesn’t even phase me for when my carb night arrives…Such a drastic difference from when I first started carbnight. Don’t get me wrong I still love my carbs and love having some cheat meals, but it’s the fact that I also love eating clean and seeing the results that I work hard for!

Ok time for some progress pics!

Left picture is from October when I was starting to lift and eat somewhat clean. The top is from last week and the bottom is from this morning 🙂

My shoulders are my weakest point. The to image is from October and the bottom is from this morning. You can see my strength growing in my shoulders and my traps.

Legggssss. The left two photos are from December when I started to really train harrrd. I mean every leg workout I had I was DYING and sweating all over the place feeling that deep burn. Which is why my legs now look like the right photo taken two days ago!

It Ain’t easy bein’ Peasy

Ello ello!

          Recently my mom has gotten into baking things…things  like brownies, cookies, and bread. Aka everything I CAN’T eat. And I know some people are probably like, this is why diets are stupid, just enjoy life and eat it! But for me I consider that taking the “easy route”and I knew from the beginning that I didn’t sign up for easy. Unless you have done carb night before or understand bodybuilding diets a lot of people don’t understand why I am eating like I am. And believe me, sometimes (when I am craving something that I can’t eat normal) I think to myself, “why am I doing this??” and “will this really make a difference if I have just a small amount?” and other thoughts like that. But then I have to remind myself that its JUST food. Food you can have when you have reached your goal.

When I look at something delicious that isn’t a part of my diet I think, “ok, was this cooked by a world renowned chef? Is this something that won’t ever come by way again?” If the answer to both those questions are no, then it’s not worth it to eat and jeopardize how far I have come.

Now this is definitely easier said than done. Especially when you have these guys just sitting on your kitchen table!

But again, they are nothing special (not that my mom doesn’t know how to cook some mean brownies, cookies, and jalapeño cornbread….because she does) they are something that I will always have access to…well unless something tramatic happens, like all the chocolate in the world burns to a crips! But, you get what I mean. And with the diet that I’m on, it allows me to enjoy and really savor delicious treats like these once a week.

And I do get the “a little bit won’t kill you” from people or the “its [instert occasion or holiday here]!” But what most people don’t understand about me is that I also used to make those excuses. Saying “well it’s so and so’s birthday so its ok!” Or “it’s flag day so it’s ok to eat this and that!” But all these things add up. And if I give in one time, then I get the taste of what I’v missed out on and will want more. There will always be obstacles and temptations, but if you are really serious you have to learn to say NO! You have to understand that what you feed your body does matter, and if you start to give into a little temptation then you might start to go down a bad path allow other temptations and obstacles to run you over.

Carb night really took some time to get used to, and to learn about the foods that have carbs that I can’t have, and the ones that have carbs AND fiber which cancel out the carbs, like avocados. It pushed me to get more creative with what I eat, especially since I am one who is all for easy meals. I try to add flavor in more simplistic ways. It has also forced me to eat at home and cook pretty much 99% of my meals. I honestly can’t even remember the last time I went out to eat when it wasn’t a carb night (definitely saving me a lot of money). And this is because not knowing what exactly is in my food when I’m not cooking it raises too many questions and thoughts of, “what if there are carbs in my meal that I don’t know about?” and “how much of said ingredient did they use so that I can calculate it into myfitnesspal?”. It just makes it ten times easier if I prepare and make the meal all on my own. That way I know for sure what goes into it, and how much of something goes into it and can get the results I’m looking for without raising implications.

My advice for anyone who wants to do carb night….Know that this won’t be easy, but you will surely get used to it! Don’t let food control you, control your food and don’t be afraid to say no! And lastly, make your own meals, it might take some time to learn what foods have carbs and what foods have carbs and fiber, but once you get it, it will save you money, and in the end you’ll be much happier when you see the results come in!

The Good, the bad, and the ugly.

Welp, I had my first carb night last Friday after 10 days of eating only 30g of carbs a day! This was a struggle, let me tell you! I love my carbs, I love bread and all things that go with it. It was especially tough when I’d come home from work and my mom would be making stuffed shells or some sort of delicious pasta dish…and there I was…making chicken…again.

I had to get creative. I had to start googling and make this more fun for myself, or else I’d never survive! I stuck with the stables of veggies as far as eating spinach on a daily. But I started to change up my proteins. Shrimp, ground turkey, and eggs (not the biggest egg fan but I spiced them enough to where I enjoyed them)! But I did the 10 days, and that glorious day had finally come!

That morning I had work and then a training session for a brutal leg day! I love me some squats and an intense leg workout, but this one was definitely a kick in the butt thanks to my trainer! I probably looked like I had a stick up my butt when I’d try to walk to the next machine, a stick that kept getting bigger and bigger after every exercise.

But after pushing through and working hard during my session, I was beyond excited!

Had some chocolate muscle milk and a banana after my workout and was ready to get this going! My Friend and I had been planning this night since before I even started this diet (sad I know). But what can I say, I love fooooood.

We knew we wanted pizza, along with some other goodies we picked up at the store while our pizza was being made. I literally kept jumping up and down in excitement and played blaring music in my car while dancing to it…again this all sounds so sad now that I am thinking back on this. But no carbs for 10 days and make a girl a little crazy.

Allow me to show you what my night looked like.

So after, 6 slices of pizza, 2 donuts, and a triple decker ice cream sandwich made by yours truly I was a little nervous about what would come in the morning. I went comatose after trying to finish the ice cream sandwich (but couldn’t), and finally went up to bed. I didn’t get the best nights sleep, mainly kept tossing and turning. And in the morning, I didn’t feel as “tight” as I was described as how I should have felt…More so bloated and soft.

I was a little disappointed, but realized that this was my first time, and now I know I have to make adjustments for my next carb nights. I am also making more adjustments during my low carb days. For example, less cheeses, more nuts and seeds for my fats, and a lower fat content in my proteins aka no more fatty bacon and sausages for this gal for right now!

I must say, as excited as I was for carb night, it was definitely a lot. The next day I was definitely looking forward to getting back to the healthy eats and cooking all my meals instead of ordering out. So until next carb night, I shall be enjoying my own delicious dishes…like this one!